The Seed of Tsunak
by Jaestopher
Summary: Max ate a seed given to him by Sebastian but when he wakes up he doesn't know where he is and there are strange people about. Now he has to try to find a way home whilst also struggling to grow up in this place and still fight demons. Post COG-spoilers
1. Chapter 1

Spoilers are in this chapter :) do not read unless you've read COG

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She was halfway down the stairs, her stele in hand, when she sensed that something was wrong. The living room was empty. Max and Sebastian were nowhere to be seen. There was a half-finished protection mark on one of the logs Sebastian had nailed over the broken window. The hammer he'd used was gone.

Her stomach tightened. "Max!" she shouted, turning in a circle. "Sebastian! Where are you?"

Sebastian's voice answered her from the kitchen. "Isabelle- in here."

Relief washed over her, leaving her light-headed. "Sebastian, that's not funny," she said, marching into the kitchen. "I thought you were-"

She let the door fall shut behind her. It was dark in the kitchen, darker than it had been in the living room. She strained her eyes to see Sebastian and Max and saw nothing but shadows.

"Sebastian?" Uncertainty crept into her voice. "Sebastian, what are you doing in here? Where's Max?"

"Isabelle." She thought she saw something move, a shadow dark against lighter shadows. His voice was soft, kind, almost lovely. She hadn't realized before now hat a beautiful voice he had "Isabelle, I'm sorry."

"Sebastian, you're acting weird. Stop it."

"I'm sorry it's you," he said. "See, out of all of them, I liked you the best."

"Sebastian-"

"Out of all of them," he said again, in the same low voice, "I thought you were the most like me."

He brought his fist down then, with the hammer in it.

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He had already taken out his stele. "I'll work on warding the house with Marks."

"Thanks." Alec was already halfway to the door; he turned and looked at his siblings, Isabelle only meeting Alec's gaze for a split second and Max staring at his sister's arm. Then the oldest Lightwood was gone.

"Isabelle." It was Max, his small voice low. "Your wrist is bleeding."

Isabelle glanced down. She looked surprised to see the bloody stain on the sleeve of her white jacket. She got to her feet whilst Sebastian started drawing a protection Mark on one of the logs he had just nailed to the broken window. "I'm going to get my stele. I'll be right back and help you with the runes, Sebastian." Isabelle announced as she slowly made her way towards the door.

He nodded. "I could use some help. These aren't my speciality." Runes, in fact, were not his speciality; He preferred the area in which he gets to severe demon's heads from their bodies. He also did need Isabelle's help, of course she didn't realize that helping him was her getting out of the room.

As soon as the footsteps on the stairs had gone, he left the half drawn rune, turned towards Max and put on a friendly face. "Hey, Max?" He called in a soft tone. Max looked over to him, regarding the older boy with curious eyes, "You hungry kid? I have a special seed in the kitchen that'll stop the hunger." The reply received was a shake of the head, but his stomach betrayed him with a low growl. After forcing a short laugh, Sebastian continued to persuade the boy. "If you eat the seed, we won't have to worry about cooking you anything, and then," Sebastian looked at the rune on the log and brushed his fingers across the outlines "we can focus more on protecting our families." He finished his sentence in a whisper that he knew would reach the boy's ears.

Sebastian noticed the way Max's head perked up at the last sentence and he had to hold back the smile that tried to break through his façade. He smiled at Max and walked past him towards the kitchen, not forgetting to pick up the hammer to the left of the doorway.

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Nawh =( I apologise for the crappy first chapter, just trust in me a little =) I needed to put in the repeat of this section from the book in to show how everything happened plus with the different point of view.

Please review, your opinions mean a lot to me, and if there's anything you think that is wrong do not hesitate to tell me.

Oh, and I don't own Mortal Instruments =)

Have fun.


	2. Chapter 2

His tummy felt funny.

Max had woken from his sleep to find himself in a desert-like place and the only thought that was running through his mind was the strange feeling running through his stomach. He assumed, at first, it was a crazy joke that Jace had pulled and no doubt Alec had probably been apart of it too, but things seemed really wrong. Firstly, they would have left food, and secondly, an image of Sebastian smirking at him would not be in his head making his tummy feel worse.

He lifted his head a little off the ground, but apparently it was enough to make him feel dizzy anyway, so he put it back to the ground again.

That's when he noticed his mouth tasted gritty. _Sand! _Max spat out the foul granules and jumped up to a seated position in order to use both his hands to hastily claw off whatever remaining bits there were left. When he'd finished, he looked around from his place on the floor, and after seeing nothing but sand in his limited vision Max decided to pick another tactic to gain a better view.

Max shifted on to his back and did a flip that had brought him to his feet but kicked up a lot of sand at the same time. Previously, this move had taken him three hours at the institute to simply hit his feet on the floor, let alone actually land without falling on his butt. Max remembered how Jace had laughed especially loud at those moments whilst Alec somehow looked both concerned and amused at the same time. Max suddenly found he was immensely sad to be without both of his brother's enjoyable presence.

Taking a look to his left he saw there were amazingly large hills covered in sand that he instantly declined the thought of climbing. A look to his right gave a view of more sand – who'd have of thought it?

Straight forward showed little clumps of green on the desert floor causing Max to guess there was plants and stuff in that direction. A glance behind him caused Max to spin around and do a double take off the view, now in front of him was a lake as blue as his own eyes. It didn't take much thought to decide where to go.

Moving slowly towards the lake, Max lightly slid his feet along the ground to make no definite footprints in the sand. Max had never had much training in the stealth area of demon hunting - seeing as he isn't allowed to go out hunting until he's at least 14 - but he knew enough by watching his sibling's training exercises from the sidelines to know how to move about and be ready for anything that might happen. It's not that he hadn't fought any demons at all; he went on days out with his brothers all the time and accidentally found himself fighting shifters and stuff on the way home.

As he finished his little reminisce about his Mom almost having a heart attack at the sight of Max coming home covered in ichor, Max found he had reached the edge of the lake, he took another quick look around him. When everything seemed exactly the way it was a minute ago, he squatted by the lake and bent forward to cup some water into his hands. It was at this point that Max looked properly at the expanse of water whilst attempting to keep the water in his hands long enough for it to reach his mouth, he noted that the lake was much more like a small pool.

His hands made contact with the water for the fourth time and a sparkling ripple of blue spread and circled his

cupped hands, but not moving any further than a ruler length away. He stood transfixed by the ripple but decided he was too thirsty to wonder about it for long. Max brought the water to his lips (quickly this time) and didn't hesitate to down the whole of it in a couple of gulps.

Looking down, Max saw that the ripple had still not disappeared or moved, but he still went to reach into the water again for another drink, only to see a pair of hands reaching up to him from beneath the water.

Forget stealth. He ran from the lake, listening as the hands audibly broke through the pool's surface.

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Still don't own The Mortal Instruments. Bummer.

A review or two would be nice =P paha

I'll update as much as I can as fast as I can =) I just have A levels and stuff to revise for so I can't spend all my time writing =(


	3. Chapter 3

"That was great, Max. Great." He had taken on a Ravener demon once by himself and had once helped Isabelle take on a forsaken, though his mother was not informed of this event, nor would she approve of it if she did know. Max had done all this with no real effort at all, but here he is in middle of nowhere running away from a puddle – if only his family could see him now – Max, scared of water and talking to himself.

After sprinting for what he thought had been five minutes and sure that he had a safe distance between him and the oasis, Max had found he had wandered into the slightly grassy area that he remembered he didn't particularly want to be in. Though instead of turning and walking in another direction, he carried on walking; the place that he thought would be safe turned out to be scary, so vice versa, right?

Max set a steadily rising walking speed, stretching his senses so he wouldn't be caught off guard again. The number of patches of green plant life on the desert floor increased as he continued further away from his waking place, taking extra care to occasionally stop his movements and look around in order to evaluate his surroundings. Max was fully in shadowhunter mode and nothing was going to surprise or scare him any longer – he had to be tough and brave like Jace, careful and observant like Alec and confident yet focused like Izzy. Once again thinking that he's learned a lot from watching his family merely walk around the Institute, but his siblings were definitely the best to observe.

He was determined to stay calm and find somewhere safe to rest so that he could figure out how to get home, or possibly how he wound up in this strange place to begin with.

Max stopped and glanced around again, putting one hand in a pocket, but leaving the other free to move if needed. He needed comfort, or something to stop him from crying at least, and that's exactly why Jace gave him that little soldier, right? After rummaging around his pocket a little, Max discovered the toy wasn't there, quickly switching hands to his right pocket, he found it wasn't in there either. How could he not have realised that it wasn't there when it was a noticeable weight in his trousers? The one object that was going to help him hold himself together wasn't there, and it was entirely his fault.

"How could all of this have happened to me?" He shouted at thin air, letting out all the frustration he had locked up until now. Breathing heavily, Max noticed a tear was sliding down his cheek and landed on his new leather boots.

"Have to stay strong," Max whispered to himself "just a little longer."

After a few minutes of locking everything up again, Max looked up from his boots, absolute focus present in his eyes. He bent his body forwards a little, feet parting slightly and arms held out from his sides a little for balance. He'd seen Jace do this once when sneaking around alleyways he wasn't supposed walk through when he took Max out, though all ended well _and_ he got to see Jace take on three forsaken and a Junk demon! Max was totally determined to get home and tell his family all about how awesome he was currently being, seeing as he was in a scary place.

Covering up his tracks, using fighting stances, he might even sharpen up some sticks later to make handy weapons for himself. Boy, were they going to be proud of him.

Though, of course, he was going to leave out the random crying spell and the water trouble, and how he was going to tell Jace he lost his toy was an entirely different matter. Maybe he could make one himself?

Max started forward again now, pacing himself but walking in hurry at the same time, determined to make it to somewhere safe before the sun went down. Bad things happen when it gets dark.

After walking for what seemed like forever to him, the random patches of greenery on the floor developed in a rainforest, and Max was definitely beginning to get tired. He didn't notice many large animals around; the biggest animal he had seen so far was a small armadillo like thing that scuttled by his feet as he entered the forest. From what he'd seen so far, the common daytime animals didn't get much bigger than house cats (not that he'd properly seen any of them because they ran away too fast and he didn't recognise any of the creatures he caught a mere glimpse of). Even the small animals didn't stick around for long, he'd approach them to get a better look or simply pass by them and they would disappear within a blink of an eye.

Within the forest, after about an hour of walking in which what he thought was in a straight line, directly through the middle, was a quite a large river blocking Max's path to the other side of the rainforest. _Joys, _Max thought to himself, _more water_. Yet he edged his way over to the bank of the water anyway, sometimes being thirsty overcomes even the scariest of things.

He crouched down in front of a great tree that overhung the rushing water that Max was planning to drink from in a moment's time. He searched the area again, trying to spot movement, but found nothing to be wary of. Max leant forwards, searching the water for danger or... hands, but still finding nothing to convince him to back away.

Slowly dipping his hands into the cold watered river that held the answer to his thirst, he cupped the water and brought it up to his mouth without spilling a drop, yet fast enough to keep his eyes searching his surroundings for any kind of nearby existence.

Max managed to consume a reasonable amount of water when the sky finally, and unfortunately, turned dark. Light dully flowed through the forest, but it was not enough to convince Max it was completely safe to travel, especially with the seemingly ever increasing darkness. It was going to become pitch black soon, and Max would be walking blind in unknown territory (he'd heard Jace say that once and thought It sounded cool).

Deciding to stay exactly where he was, Max leant his body against the tree, no longer crouching but sitting fully on his butt, only now he realised how far he must have walked as his legs became very painful when he stretched them out and tried to relax a little.

Darkness did not just overcome the forest, but Max's mind, as he found peace and fell asleep. It seemed that the adrenaline rush and the massive time walking had taken more out of him than he had originally thought.

Max was woken up the following morning by the smell of meat and the sound of quiet breathing. He didn't open his eyes at fear of what he opened them to, but tried to make sense of the change of the surrounding area. Underneath him was a new softness that couldn't be mistaken for anything but a bed, so the cold, hard thing by his left hand must be a wall or a bedside table. Nothing but the sound of breathing reached his ear; pretty certain it wasn't his own, but to the right of him.

"I know you're awake," called out a small, delicate sounding, female voice, "and you're terrible at faking by the way." That same voice let out a light-hearted laugh that rang out like chiming bells around him and this convinced him there was no danger. Max opened his eyes and directed them down to his right where a young girl was sat on a wooden chair in the middle of the room, looking at him with light amusement and a small smile on her lips. He'd admit it, she was really cute, with her big brown eyes and loose golden-brown hair... but it wasn't the time for that kind of thought.

As he thought of where he was, he realised that he had been taken from where he had fallen asleep, which put him instantly on guard around the seemingly innocent girl. He also noticed something in her eyes, which made Max aware that she had seen him think of fleeing that made her give him a look that let him know that she could keep him in here by herself even if he fought. This is what made him stay put, still lying on the bed, watching the girl watching him.

"Who are you?" He managed to croak out weakly, obviously not finding his voice.

That smile of hers transformed into full blown grin.


	4. Chapter 4

"I," The girl started strongly, straightening up in the chair with her head held up in a proud manner; smile still on her lips but in a less intimidating way than before, "am the one that saved your ass from that dusk demon out in the woods! But shush, if my mom asks you, I didn't find you in the woods, okay?" She blushed, looking a little self conscious about her apparent 'rebelliousness' against her mother.

"So if your mother asks," I managed to croak out past the lump that found itself in my throat, "I tell her what instead?" I decided that since it seemed like I couldn't go anywhere soon, I would at least learn a few things from this family about where I was before making my way home. It couldn't hurt to know, right?

"I don't know, by the –"but she was cut off from a booming voice from behind the door.

"Sweetie, Is that boy awake yet? Food's almost ready and angel knows by the sound of his stomach that boy's probably starving." The voice that rang through the room was probably the girl's mother or something. I cringed a little after hearing that my stomach was had made loud noises during the time I was asleep and in their care.

"Yeah mom! Be right there mom." The girl replied in a tired voice as if she had to say the same thing on a regular basis. To Max it sounded a lot like when Jace replied to his own mom after coming back alone from a hunt and got caught whilst taking his shoes off by the elevator doors. He smiled a little at one memory when Jace and Alec had spent forever cleaning the rug before mom saw the icor, but after being called at from the kitchen, they knew that it was a wasted effort. Izzy didn't even bother helping and just stood to the side looking all pretty.

"Come on, 'rents are waiting!" The girl grabbed Max's hand to lead him out of the room but brought him out of his flash back too suddenly, and made him fall flat on his face. She giggled at him when she turned and helped him up from the floor which made Max's face go a little red because of his clumsiness.

As they exited the room Max had been sleeping in, holding hands as she dragged him through the hallway, Max noticed things about the girl that he hadn't before. Firstly, golden brown, shining hair ran down to the lower part of her back but was tied back slightly away from her face with jewelled clips in an almost formal fasion; it swished from side to side as she skipped slightly with each step. She wore a full length, light green and yellow dress that looked like something a medieval girl would wear. Perhaps this girl was dressed up for a fancy dress party or something?

They rounded a corner that led to a wide room that had plain brick walls, an open fire and all of the furniture Max could see looked amateur and poorly done with dark, unkempt wood that hadn't been taken care of very well. Tattered cloth lay upon the few tables and a small seating area was arranged over by the far wall. A worn out door that barely fit its' frame hung to the left of the seating area, a small breeze blowing through the gaps at the edges helping to cool the room from the heat of the sun that poured in from the window that lay to the right of the door.

The girl, who's hair reminded Max of honey, turned to go through the doorway ont their right which lead towards a kitchen area with a tall woman in a long, brown dress of a similar design to the girl who was still dragging him around. The woman was stood over a large pot on top of a broken looking stove.

"Hey mom, he's awake and ready to eat" The girl announced as they stopped in the middle of the room. The tall woman turned around with a warm smile on her face, she seemed like she was about to say something to her daughter but stopped and instead looked straight at Max and her smile broadened. Her face was round but sllim, her smile making a dimple on her left cheek visible, and her eyes were the same as her daughter's; big and brown.

"Thank the angels! We thought you were to never awaken young man. Are you really ready to eat or would you prefer to wait until you are awake a small while longer? You've been asleep for two days, as I suspect my daughter has not informed you." She cast a half-hearted accusing look towards her daughter who was still holding Max's hand. The girl merely beamed back at her mother. "You must tell me how you ended up by the well; it's quite a while away from the market. You must be more careful little one." As the woman turned back to her cooking, he looked over to the girl with a confused look on her face.

She hadn't told him what the story was, if not the woods, his reply was a squeeze of the hand and mouthed "It's okay, just make it up, I didn't give details" Max nodded, not entirely sure how this was going to plan out, but his only thought was the food the woman was dishing out at that moment.

Max gathered his voice so it didn't come out croaky as he hadn't had any water for a while. "Thank you for the offer, I'm really hungry right now, err... Ma'am?" He didn't talk to strangers if his family wasn't around so Max was feeling really awkward, not sure how to address the woman or talk to her without seeming too formal or too ungrateful.

The woman gave a slight chuckle and turned around again. "No need for that, dear. Just call me Irena, okay? And what is your name? I suppose my girl hasn't asked you that either, huh?" She didn't seem upset that daughter hadn't asked him anything and simply turned back to put food on a third plate, putting on noticeably more than the other two. _I guess that's mine_, he thought.

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Review?


	5. Chapter 5

"My name's Max, Max Lightwood. Where am I?" It had been on his mind for a while and he still hadn't figured it out, nowhere he had been since he woke up the first time had given him any clue to his whereabouts. One thing was certain; Max could feel it was true when the words formed in his head.

Max wasn't in Idris anymore.

He thought back to the last thing he remembered. There was Alec, going out to fight the demons; Isabelle going upstairs to look for something which left Max in the sitting room with… Sebastian. The thought made him cringe, he didn't like Sebastian there was something too 'off' about him, and Max thought he was way too phoney to trust. He wasn't an idiot; Max knew when someone wasn't being true to others. It was like a talent he had developed when Jace started acting mean to people in response to something they said; he knew when Jace meant something and when he lied to cover something else up. Sebastian was one hell of a liar, he just knew it.

An image of a small seed was stuck in Max's mind after that. He couldn't get it out of his head, even when he sat down to eat the food Miss Irena had handed to him, telling him they'd talk more after they'd eaten. He just couldn't remember what happened after Izzy left the room, or why he felt a little shaky when he thought about it.

Max ate all of the meal that Miss Irena had given him, even after he had lost his appetite half way through. He wasn't going to be rude and decline food that had been generously given to him. After the three of them cleared their plates, Max went to take the empty plates from the table to the sink, earning a 'thank you' from Miss Irena and a smile from her daughter.

He liked this family, he decided, and he felt that he wasn't as upset as he was about not being near his own family at that moment. This home, even if it had old, uncomfortably furniture, was welcoming and homely, not really like the Institute where everything was white and cold.

Miss Irena got up to serve them desert, which Max was readily accepting of this time, he smelt the pancakes before he saw them but was happily bouncing around in his seat when she turned around with a plate full of the delicacy. She chuckled at him but said no more and split up the stack into three piles, this time taking the larger pile for herself.

Yes, he _really_ did like this family; they make pancakes even when it wasn't a special occasion. He hoped so, anyway.

They had a little bit of banter going on this time. Miss Irena and her daughter told him almost every story they could think of where the other had done something embarrassing, Max enjoyed this and didn't hesitate to almost fall off his chair with excessive laughter when Miss Irena told him when the girl had fallen head first into a barrel and gotten stuck. The laughter died down a little after that, and they focused on their pancakes until Miss Irena nudged Max and waved her arms in a gesture that mimicked the girl's legs flailing about out of the barrel. The girl could only reply by poking her tongue out at them until she herself burst into a fit of giggles.

Max cleared all of their plates again while the two women finished up their laughter. He had just reached the sink when the plates slipped out of his hands and smashed on the floor. His face was frozen in shock as he remembered everything.

_Sebastian had given him that seed to eat but it had made him feel even worse than before. Max had felt sick and dizzy and when he went to ask Sebastian what was happening, his throat was swollen up and Sebastian was simply grinning at him, leaning against the table as if it were any other day, a hammer resided in his left hand. Max heard Isabelle's voice from the hallway, but instead he collapsed on the floor. Sebastian looked towards the door that Izzy sounded inches from and his facial expression was that of anger and another emotion Max couldn't decipher. His mouth opened and moved in reply to whatever Isabelle had said but Max couldn't hear anymore and his sight had gone blurry. Eventually, all went dark so Max just closed his eyes and fell asleep._

Max opened his eyes to see two pairs of worried eyes gazing at him. It was Miss Irena and her daughter, asking him frantically is he was alright, but he had only on thought in his mind that he voiced in a reply.

"I died."

Both sets of eyes widened a little at his statement and then Miss Irena enveloped him in what one could only describe as a bear hug. He could see her daughter's face as his head settled on her shoulder. The girl looked both quizzical and fascinated as she turned and slowly left the room. He wondered what she was thinking about when Miss Irena let him go and cupped his face with both hands.

"You aren't dead, sweetie." She said. "But whatever just popped into your head and whoever tried to hurt you. It will never happen again, and they will never hurt you again. Not whilst you're sleeping under my roof, okay?" Max didn't think he could have hoped for a better reassurance to reach his ears. He went back into Miss Irena's arms for another hug, her arms welcoming, holding him close to her again. Max smiled, a tear rolling down his right cheek.

"You just rest here for a short while and I'll go find you some clean clothes to put on." Miss Irena had led him back to the room he had woken up in after he had calmed down from his little melt down in the kitchen. He had apologised tenfold for smashing the plates he had been holding but she merely told him they weren't irreplaceable and not to worry.

She had then explained to him he was in a village called Terna, where a small collection of people lived, that no one else on the planet knew of and demons couldn't get to. Max settled on thinking of it as a smaller version of Idris.

He sat on the bed and looked around the room, noticing how old and tattered most things were. The walls were not covered in paint but instead with stuff that looked a lot like mud. The chair that the girl had sat on earlier wasn't cushioned like he had assumed, and was in fact covered in a thin cloth that hid most of the faults in the framework. The window behind him had a simple wooden frame and he was sure there was a draught blowing through the small gaps where the glass didn't fit the frame properly.

Max laid back on the bed, his feet dangling off of the edge, waiting for Miss Irena to come back with the clothes. He thought about her and the girl that had greeted him when he woke up. They seemed like trustable people, apart from when the girl did that intimidating smile thing, that gave Max the creeps. Plus Miss Irena was a very kind lady; she really knew how to cheer someone up.

Again there was her daughter, he didn't even know her name, he'd have to ask her next time he saw her.

The door to the room opposite the bed opened and Miss Irena came through with a pretty large pile of clothes. Max sat up and saw her slightly struggle to hold the door open enough for her to get through without dropping the pile in her hands. He jumped up and walked forward to help her, receiving a grateful smile in return. Max liked how smiley this family was, it was pleasant, and he wondered if the rest of the family were like this too.

"Excuse me, Miss Irena? Where are the rest of your family? Will they be home soon? If they're anything like you and your daughter, they must be nice to meet." His wide smile faltered as Miss Irena stopped dead and the pile of clothes slipped from her hands to the floor.

A few minutes passed and both Max and Miss Irena hadn't moved an inch. "There are no others, dear, not anymore." Her voice was quite and hoarse, so much that Max had to strain to hear what she said.

He whispered "I'm sorry." Not silly enough to press further.

Miss Irena turned around, a sad smile on her face. "Don't worry about it, dear. Now if you need anything, do not hesitate to ask wither me or my little one, other than that you can make yourself at home." She left the room, not realising the clothes were still on the floor. Max picked them up and put the on the corner of the bed, sitting in the middle himself. He picked up and item from the top of the pile, seeming to be some kind of waistcoat that was probably made to be worn with the shirt that was next on the pile. It all, including the dresses Miss Irena and her daughter were wearing, looked like something that would be seen on a medieval film.

Max changed into the shirt and waistcoat, accompanied with trousers that felt a lot like the trousers his own family used as shadow hunting gear, but boots that were just a little too big for him. Max paced the room a little, trying out his new outfit and seeing how well he could move around in it. Apart from the too-big boots, it was quite well fitting, and he wondered where she'd gotten the clothes from if there was no one else in her family besides her and her daughter.

He walked back into the living room, noting no television or any other kind of electrical object was present in the room. He went into the kitchen and, seeing the smashed plates still on the floor, went over to clean up so that Miss Irena didn't have to. It was his fault they were like that, after all.

After that, Max walked around the house a bit. He found that there were four rooms; his, the girl's, Miss Irena's and a spare that looked occupied with toys and clothes scattered about, but felt like there hadn't been anyone in there for a while. There was a locked room at the end of the hall, and when Max looked through the keyhole he made out through the dimness, a large pile of shiny weapons stacked against the opposite wall. _I guess it really is smaller version on Idris_, _they even have similar weapons_. He thought this as he noticed a small cylinder object that must have rolled off of the pile, it was made of a metal that Max didn't recognise but he knew the familiar feeling of an angel's power from a blade, even when it isn't active, and it was coming from that object on the floor.

Max gave up looking around the house a little while after that, when he found the bathroom and realised he was being nosey, and went to sit down in the living room. He waited for what he thought was hours, shifting uncomfortably on the seat, and decided to go outside and see what the village was like. He went to the door with the bright light on the other side, hoping it was the front door. Once outside, he saw plenty of small farming patches and a lot of huts.

There were no attached huts; all were similar, spaced out so that the farmland didn't make it look cramped. The part that Max had stepped out in was set up like a street, five houses on the side opposite and six on the same side as Miss Irena's house. Max walked around the farming land and to the right where he followed the 'street' to the end.

To one side of the end of the street held a large hall where lots of people were gathering outside, this is where Max decided he was definitely not walking near. To his left was a market place, filled with small stalls that were surrounded by wooden boxes and small kids around Max's age, all dressed in a variety of shades of browns and blacks. _Not there either, _Max concluded, he wasn't ready to meet a lot of people yet.He watched the other kids a little longer though, noticing the patterns of the way they were running about, obviously playing a game that Max did not recognise.

Two kids were running about after eachother in the middle of the group, three watched from a distance from these two and shouted suggestions that Max couldn't hear nor understand. One kid on the side lines would then randomly run to the middle and shout something, where most of the positions were changed and a new pair of kids were running after one another in the centre.

Max then looked away, tired of trying to figure out the point in the game – he'd never been one for street games with other kids – and saw that ahead of him was a large, creepy looking wood, Max quickly deduced that it had to be the one Miss Irena's daughter had found him in.

He walked towards the woods; even though he was told before that it wasn't allowed. He walked up to the edge of the woods, not daring to go any further, he'd been through enough drama on the other side. He peered in front of him, daring to go no closer, noticing how different this part looked to the bit he'd fallen asleep in; it was almost completely dominated by moss and there was a noticeable amount more bugs and small creatures than there was before. The trees were much smaller and further spaced apart.

After pacing up and down a small number of metres against the edge of the woods, deciding whether to go in closer or not, Max turned around and headed back to the village. A few steps away from the woods and Max heard a loud ruffle and sigh, he whipped around but nothing seemed any different from when he'd stood there a couple of seconds ago. He stepped back slowly, and step by step he made his way back to the safety of Terna without taking his eyes away from the mass of trees.

Making his way back to the village, Max noticed that the gatherings of kids at the market and the adults at the big hall had disappeared. He almost chose to go to the market place to see what kind of things they sold, taking a few steps towards it, but realised that the sun was close to setting on the horizon, and instead turned back around in the direction of Miss Irena's house.

Max had learnt his lesson about staying out after dark on his own, even if Miss Irena had told him that the place was safe from demons. He shivered as he remembered the night and walked a little quicker.

The farm land outside miss Irena's house was no longer empty of people, a young boy that looked a little older than Max was among the patches this time. Max glanced at the door to the house, deciding if he was going to walk in yet or talk to the boy.

"You must be the new guy." The boy called to him with a smile, startling Max as he had just decided to ignore the boy and go in the house. "I'm Yuri, nice to meet ya." He waved at Max in a friendly manner so Max went to stand by him, staying a safe distance away at the edge of the farming patch.

As he approached the boy Max noticed a jagged semi-circle scar on the left side of his neck. It was recent, Max could tell, by the redness that conflicted with his slightly tanned skin. His hair was a light brown and fell just short of his shoulder, the had left it loose and it flailed about with the light evening breeze.

"Hi," Max began, a little quieter than he had originally gone for, "I'm Max." He carried on more confidently this time. "What are you up to, Yuri?" Max asked, choosing to be polite and try to make conversation.

Yuri shot Max a grin, obviously happy that Max had talked back to him "I'm just helping my dad out by tidying up the tools, 'cause we don't want anyone to get hurt if they pick 'em up, you know?"

"Want any help? I don't really have anything to do around here" A self-conscious smile slowly formed on his face.

"Sure thing, just grab these here tools on this pile," he pointed to the stack of wooden sticks at the far right edge with sharps rocks attached to the edges in many variations of styles. "Then put them in the sacks over here," another point over to the sacks by his feet, "and sort 'em by their type. So what's your name, newbie?" Yuri picked up the next tool on the pile and put it in an open sack with other similar looking tools.

"I'm Max Lightwood, and thanks." Max started forward towards the pile and picked up the closest tool. It looked like it belonged in a museum for middle age farming equipment. Nevertheless, Max found an open bag of tools like the one in his hand and placed it in.

"No, thank _you_ Newbie, Do you have any idea how long this would take to do on my own?" Yuri smiled and both of them got back to sorting out the equipment.

"Err…" Max started, he knew that some questions didn't need to be answered because the answers were obvious; he just didn't know if this question was one of those questions. His dad had called it something like 'retrocal'?

"A long time I'm guessing?" He didn't know if saying this was the right option, but Yuri's reply made him think that it was.

"Just a little bit, newbie, way too long for my liking really, but my dad says that learning about responsibilities is key at our age, and apparently it helps make us better men in the future." Yuri scrunched up his face and poked his tongue out at Max. "Being a good man is way overrated. Plus it can't be that hard, right? My mom tells me stories of good men in our ancestry all the time and it doesn't exactly seem difficult." Yuri looked thoughtful for a moment and grinned again.

"Slacking again, pup?" A familiar voice called out behind them, though he hadn't heard anyone approach them. Max turned to find Miss Irena's daughter had come back from wherever she had gone and was looking at Yuri with a smirk.

"Hey, he volunteered! How many times do I have to say I ain't a dog? And I'm certainly not a pup. You're always really mean to me, you know." Yuri finished this in a whiney voice and crossed his arms over his chest, stomping his left foot, but couldn't keep away the smile he was hiding.

"Come on, _Lightwood_; don't be giving our lazy dog any more bones. That's his work, and… my mum said she doesn't want you wandering around just yet." She flashed Max a sincere smile and then went back to smirking at Yuri. "Try not to work _too_ hard, pup." She grinned at them and skipped away back to her house, her dress flapping behind her in the light breeze. Once she was in the house and out of hearing range, Max turned to Yuri, confusion clearly written on his face.

"Why did she keep making dog jokes?" Max asked as he was confused by the conversation Yuri'd had with the girl.

"Oh, that? Don't go thinking she meant it seriously. Ever since I got bitten by a Were a couple of months ago and turned at the last full moon she's been constantly making dog jokes, but we're actually really good friends." He smiled reassuringly at Max.

"You're a werewolf?" Max was a little shocked, he was taught from an early age how to easily recognise Supes, and he hadn't sensed that Yuri was one.

"Yep, but I'll always be a warrior of the Angels first before I go sniffing around bushes." Yuri grinned.

"A - a warrior of the Angels?" Max choked up a little, truly baffled, there were no other groups of Nephilim like Idris on Earth, he was sure of it., he had asked his parents before.

"Uh huh, we're Nephilim, and this is our village Terna on the planet Kelvené. Thought you should know, seeing as you aren't from this planet, or..." Yuri looked Max up and down and seemed a little startled, as if he hadn't noticed something before. "From this dimension either, from the looks of you."


	6. Chapter 6

Max heard a faint voice calling out something in the distance.

"Well, got to go Newbie, dad's calling." Yuri grinned at Max and jogged away as if he hadn't just told Max he was from another dimension.

_No wonder everything's different here_, Max thought.

Max turned around and slowly walked back to Miss Irena's house. "Maybe I'm just dreaming." He mumbled to himself as he approached the door. He stopped just before it, his hand holding the handle but making no move to turn it. "Maybe," he whispered and opened the door to see Miss Irena and the girl on the wooden sofa, looking at him expectantly.

"I understand that you'd want to go and look around a bit, but not everyone is as friendly and accepting of strangers in the village as Yuri and we are, okay dear? There are also some off-limit areas that I'd rather you didn't go near." She smiled but Max couldn't reply, he just nodded and sat in the nearest chair. The chair was rather uncomfortable at first, the seat not being very well cushioned by the fabric covering it; it was probably something he would have to get used to quickly, so he didn't fidget to get himself more comfortable. "First of all," Miss Irena began, "the woods are completely off-limits to anyone who is underage, alone or untrained in basic defence, I expect you to not only avoid them but to make sure others in the village, which fall under such categories, do also." She looked pointedly at her daughter but the girl's gaze was focused on Max, observing him with as sombre look.

Max nodded, still unable to speak, he knew somehow that her daughter would repeat it all anyway at some point so he tuned out and focused on his own thoughts.

Sebastian had given him something that had taken him to another dimension, and it was most likely that his family didn't know. He wondered if they thought he was dead, and hoped that wasn't the case, they were always so protective of him. Max needed to find a way back home, and Yuri and Miss Irena's daughter seemed like the best people to ask than Miss Irena herself, he didn't want to trouble her as he had earlier.

The girl said she had found Max in the woods, which meant she went into the off-limit areas often, she might know of something or someone outside the village that could help him.

"Until then," Miss Irena brightened up again, obviously finished with her warnings, "just have some fun while your here, dear. I'm sure my daughter will show you around and be your company for a while until you make more friends. Well, I'm going to prepare your room with clean sheets and make my way to bed, it's getting quite late. Goodnight sweetheart," she turned to her daughter, gave her a kiss on the cheek and stood up, beginning to walk towards Max in order to get to the doorway behind him, "and goodnight to you too, dear." She ruffled his hair as she walked past.

"Goodnight mom." The girl called to her the same time that Max croaked out "Goodnight Miss Irena."

The girl crossed the room and stood directly in front of Max, her eyes slightly narrowed. "What did Yuri tell you? I wouldn't take him seriously all the time if I were you; he gets these crazy ideas from his dad, always talking about magic and portal as if there are such things. But there is no such thing, or somebody would have noticed during the last thousand years, right?" She was trying to comfort him the best she could, he could tell. The thing that surprised him the most was she didn't believe in magic. Were there no warlocks here? He was confused, so he asked her about it.

"A War-what? Haven't heard of one, probably something Yuri told you, yes?" Max shook his head in reply.

"No?" The girl looked surprised and a little excited; she dropped to the floor by his feet and sat on her knees. "Tell me about them, Max. Please?" The way she sat so eager and attentive made it seem a lot more like story-time for mundies than an explanation of magic.

"Well, from what I know they're the closest being to demons so far. They use magic, and can do really neat things, especially the High Warlocks, it's really awesome watching them magic stuff out of nowhere and be totally cool about it. Also, they can sometimes come along in different variations of bright colours and glitter." The side of his mouth twitched, but he couldn't seem to crack a smile just yet.

"Whoa, you already know about demons? That's awesome!" She almost shouted but instead settled for a loud whisper, remembering Miss Irena had recently gone to bed. "Your must be like us, just from somewhere else. Hey, maybe we can train together! Wouldn't that be cool?"

Strangely, she didn't mention anything about Warlocks, or his reference to glitter, that night. She only spoke of training and how much she wondered if their fighting styles were at all different. Max didn't want to ruin her mood and mention that he didn't know how to fight yet, his family had been way too busy trying to get rid of that bad guy everyone seemed to have a history with.

Eventually, the girl seemed to get tired as her excitement faded. He suggested that they should get some rest and she readily agreed. She walked him to the room he was staying in and wished him goodnight. He watched her as she walked away and rounded the corner to her own room. Max noticed how gracefully she walked; he figured she had already been training for quite a while to be able to walk with such elegance at her age.

Max wasn't able to sleep very well that night, but he definitely wasn't going to tell Miss Irena that. The bed was ridiculously soft compared to the hardness of every other piece of furniture in the house; it seemed Miss Irena had noticed he didn't find it comfy at all and changed it so it was more relaxing for him. The thing is, every time Max shifted or turned under the covers, he sank just a little bit more into the thick mattress until he was eventually over halfway enveloped. This is when Max stopped moving no matter how awkward his position was.

The next morning consisted of a wheat-like breakfast and a small board game that, even after almost an hour of playing, Max still didn't understand the rules of. After the almost an hour playing, he gave up and sat with his legs and arms crossed on the seat. Miss Irena gave him a sideways glance that he could only relate to concern, while her daughter just pointed and laughed at him.

"Giving up already, Lightwood? It seems my Rammai skills are just too heavenly for some people to handle!" She looked back to the boards to watch her mother's next move and her grinning smile faded awfully quickly.

"_Your_ skills are heavenly, little one? Then my superior wit and skill must be the equivalent to a god! I would say I have officially won the game now, wouldn't you?" Miss Irena reclined back into her chair and put her hands on either side of the arms, crossing one leg over the other, exaggerating her smugness.

"Err, yes mother." Her daughter replied meekly, not yet recovered enough from her loss to form a witty reply.

It carried on like that for the majority of the morning until a bell started ringing outside.

"At last, I thought they'd never start!" Miss Irena exclaimed, raising her arms in an exasperated manner.

They both rose to their feet and made their way to the front door, leaving Max in the room who was incredibly confused by the sudden change. He didn't know where they had gone but he figured he wasn't supposed to follow.

He went to the window when a lot of shadows passed by under the door, many of the village's occupants were walking down the road in little groups, they turned at the corner which told Max they all went to that big hall he'd seen the previous day.

_Fine_, Max thought, _I'll just sit here and wait for your return, just like any other day_. He was used to this, he'd admit, the way his family would up and leave at any moment, leaving him on his own for any number of hours. He wasn't angry at them for it, he knew he'd be apart of it when he was older and trained, plus they bought him plenty of manga and games to keep him occupied. This was different though, at least his family told him why they had left and an estimate of time to wait, plus it was always nighttime and the obvious reason was demons. But it was the morning here, and everyone was going to this big hall and he didn't know why, not that he particularly wanted to go with them. Although, a short briefing was always nice.

He paced around the room after sitting down in the silence didn't help the waiting when the door slowly slid open and someone's rear was backing it's way into the room. Max had to stifle a giggle when the door shut and Yuri turned around with a great grin on his face. "I thought they'd leave you out of the meeting, reckoned i'd come keep you company while everybody's gone." Yuri walked further into the room and carelessly dropped himself onto the sofa, still smiling. "I see you guys had a game of Rammai?" He turned his face to Max with a smirk, "Do you understand the rules yet?" Max shook his head and sat on the chair Miss Irena's daughter had been sat on, opposite Yuri.

"Not a clue. I mean, what does this even do?" Max said as he picked up a little round chip that hadn't been used once in the game even though he had been told it was one of the important pieces.

"Don't ask me," Yuri's grin returned, "I've lived in this village my whole life and I still don't understand it." They shared a chuckle and then a long silence passed between them.

"So, if everyone's at that large hall for some kind of meeting, why aren't you there with them, Yuri?" Max waited for a couple of minutes waiting for Yuri to decide what to say. But no reply came and he just shrugged off the question, changing the subject.

"So you're gonna start training with us tomorrow, right? Little Miss Brilliant will be excited about that, it's been a while since she's had someone new to fight. Think you'll be competition for her, Newbie?" He faced Max again and gave him a look that told him not to press into why he changed the conversation.

Max didn't want to upset him so he replied with, "I'm guessing you mean Miss Irena's daughter? She wouldn't stop talking about training for most of the night." With this, Yuri's face lit up with amusement. "But to be honest," Max carried on, "I won't be much of a fight, my family never got round to training me, everything happened so quickly." Max whispered the last bit, looking down at the floor.

Yuri didn't dwell though, and carried on as if he hadn't noticed. Max almost thanked him for it but decided against it.

"Doesn't matter, you'll pick it up in no time, and no doubt you probably picked up something by watching your family that'll surprise her enough to consider you game." Yuri looked thoughtful and then went back to his grinning. "Hey, maybe you'll end up teaching _us _stuff, i'm always up for new moves." He moved his hands as if doing a karate chop with a concentrated look on his face, but Max's giggling turned out to be too much and his focus was destroyed. They heartily laughed until the door burst open, and Miss Irena and the girl came into the room talking about what he guessed was the meeting.

"I don't see why," the girl whined at her mother, "it's not really all that different from any other situation, they're just being awkward just for the hell of it." She threw a puppy-eyed look to her mom and then then turned her gaze to Max and Yuri. "Whaddup?" was all she had to say.

"Language, little one." Miss Irena chided and then turned to the boys too. "Hello there Yuri, it has been a while since you've visited considering you help your father work just outside." She flashed them a warm smile and carried on with a different subject before Yuri could reply. "Who wants an early lunch?"

At this, Yuri jumped up and the girl's eyes beamed, Max just nodded in agreement. The three of them sat down at the table while Miss Irena started cooking, not asking if what she was about to make was what any of them wanted. Yuri and the girl started talking about someone he doubted they were friends with, making remarks about their attitude to something that happened the other day, Miss Irena occasionally turned around and said something like 'really?' or simply tutted whilst stirring the large pot of food in front of her.

Eventually Miss Irena served up four bowls of stew, Max flinched and pushed the bowl a little farther from him. Nobody noticed as they practically dived into their bowls.

Yuri was the first to finish his bowl of stew, Miss Irena's daughter not far behind him. He jumped up and went back to the pot for seconds, not asking Miss Irena if it was okay, Max figured it wasn't the first time he'd come round for a meal. As Yuri came back, he noticed Max's full bowl and stopped short of the table, confusion etched on his face.

"Hey, why aren't you eating, Newbie? Something wrong?" He continued his walk back to the table and sat down beside Max, nudging Max's side with his elbow. He scrunched up his face when Max didn't reply, and instead tried to provoke Max to reply with a different tactic. "Irena," Yuri started, sounding shocked, "I don't think he likes your cooking!" He grinned when Max began to talk.

"No!" Max shouted, going red in the face. "That isn't it, Miss Irena. It's just..." Max stopped and looked down to the table at the bowl of untouched stew, he shuddered and looked up again. "Last time i ate stew - well - it didn't end pleasantly, that's all. I can't even look at it without feeling a little ill." He smiled apologetically at Miss Irena.

"How on Earth can eating stew end _unpleasantly_?" The girl sat across from him inquired, amusement shined in her eyes.

"Someone forgot to tell me my sister was cooking that night." He shuddered again, and after receiving curious looks in return he sighed and carried on. "One day, after I find my way back home, I'll invite you round when my sister's cooking tea and... well, you'll see." Max cringed.

This seemed to be enough for the others and went back to eating, the girl shrugged and took Max's bowl. Miss Irena got up and pulled out some bread from a cupboard, cut it open and put some other ingredients inside it. She returned to the table and gave Max the bread, smiling at him with understanding; he nodded and started eating as Miss Irena finished off her bowl.

They finished off the rest of the day playing Rammai, a game that Max still didn't understand even after he'd won three times in a row. Yuri was just as skilled as Miss Irena at it. _Sure you don't understand, liar. _And the girl who was once again sat opposite him was close to knocking the board over in frustration. _And i still don't know her name_, he added to himself, smirking when she threw the game pieces onto the table and announced to the group she was going to bed early. He didn't have much of a reason to smirk, he was losing worse than she was, but the way she took it to heart was enough to leave the three remaining people in the room with a serious case of the giggles.

"You two'd best be off to bed too, you know" Miss Irena, being the first to recover from her daughter's tantrum, advised the two boys. "Training begins early tomorrow and _you're," _she turned to look pointedly at Yuri, "like when you're tired, you slack enough as it is." She finished with an eyebrow raise; something that Max remembered Clary could never do without pulling silly faces. He giggled to himself, realising a little late that his laughter was taken to be the response to Miss Irena's remark instead of his private thought.

"Fine!" Yuri abruptly stood up in an exaggerated manner that reminded him a lot like something Jace would do. "I'll go get some sleep, but we both know I'll be grumpy by the end of the day anyway. Aly's like a machine and she always picks me to spar, it's unfair and you know it." He poked his tongue out at her, and then relaxed his face into a pout as he made his way to the door.

"Oh, Newbie?" He turned around to face Max. "Don't forget to wear a lot of padding, yeah?" His pout was no longer existent and instead he left the house with a Cheshire's cat grin. Max couldn't share the joke and instead felt a little frightened; Miss Irena's daughter could be that good, could she?

Miss Irena gave a light-hearted chuckle and told him that the training clothes he would need would be provided to him when he reached the hall. She also said that her daughter would be the one to wake him up, though he should probably try and listen out for her in case she leaves after forgetting him. Being late on his first day would not end well as the instructor was ruthless, even on kids his age.

His name is Logan but should be referred to as 'Master Logan' or he blows up a lecture about respect which is something Max was advised he should only want to hear once. Training was rough and even Miss Irena's daughter was prone to coming home with the occasional bruise from sparring. Every time Miss Irena opened her mouth to tell Max more about the training sessions, he wished more and more that her daughter would forget him and he'd never have to go. He wanted to have training sessions like Jace and Alec had; teasing but serious, playful banter yet completely focussed. Max wanted to go home.

"Oh, and one more thing, Dear," Miss Irena called to him just before he reached the door to his room, he turned to find her leaning against the door frame to the living room looking at him a little too sternly for his liking. "Do not, if you ever want to get out of the training room with all limbs attached, make eye contact with Logan for too long unless he tells you to look at him." She ended the warning with a smile and walked away.

Max couldn't sleep very well that night again, his body refusing to ignore Miss Irena's word, so when he heard a light knocking on the door early the next morning he still had terrorising presumptions about the day ahead running through his mind.

* * *

I realise that that was probably boring for you guys to read :P I'm not going to make excuses for it

Review?

I don'ts own TMI. If I did I wouldn't be writing this fanficiton :)

Fanks for reading!


	7. Author's Note

I am so sorry for the lack of updates recently :( I was on a proper creative roll and then BAM! I realised my notes for the story is in a notepad of my mum's... Who's in London... For a while... And won't look for them for me.

Plus seeing as I wrote them last year and I didn't need to look at them until now, I pretty much can't remember most of the stuff written... I don't want to improvise either, I have this all worked out (just on paper that I don't have).

So, so sorry!

I'll get it sorted as soon as possible. Promise :)


	8. Chapter 7

Training was hell. Max got knocked to the floor in a very unflattering fashion more times than he could count, unfortunately Miss Irena's daughter _could_ count.

"… and the bit where I threw you into the air just before you fell and splatted on the floor? That was awesome! Yuri never lets me do that to him, he makes up stupid rules of how I can and can't beat him, and it's unfair. Oh! And like, the fifteenth time I put you in that body lock that made you squeal like a girl? Priceless!" Unluckily he had to go through the whole speech twice so that her mother knew of every time she kicked his butt – sometimes quite literally. He had some nasty bruises to look forward to later.

"It sounds like you two had a productive day then." Miss Irena smiled with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

_Great, now she's mocking me too._

"You have no idea." Max groaned.

* * *

"**LIGHTWOOD! Get your ninny little backside over here NOW!" Was the first thing Max heard as he walked into the large room. Before he walked over to the shouting guy he presumed was Logan, he noticed the group of young kids huddled in the far corner as far away from the trainer they could get without it looking obvious. **

"**Go, Max. Or your **_**ninny **_**backside'll get a hiding." But as threatening as the girl made the comment seem, she burst into giggles and made her way over to the group where Yuri stuck his head out of the mass and waved. **

**Max took reluctant steps over to the centre of the room where **_**Master**_** Logan was glaring at him sternly. **

"**Next time I call you over, you do so immediately without dilly dallying. Do. You. Understand. Me. Lightwood?" His voice, even though Max was stood in front of him, boomed across the hall like when he had first entered.**

"**Yes sir." He replied meekly, avoid eye contact. At first, when Miss Irena had mentioned this detail, it seemed a little odd, but now as Max turned his gaze from the cold eyes that were piercing a massive hole in his head he understood why he was supposed to avoid eye contact with the man. **

**His eyes were red, blood red, it only added to the crazy look the guy had going on. His hair was long, matted and blonde and his teeth were few and yellow. The muscles in his body looked as though they would break his skin just from the size of them, stretching the surface and enlarging his neck to the size of a football. The sheer size of him was enough to make the most fearful of demons hesitate as his height rivalled that of a forsaken. **

**Overall, this guy was going to make Max a submissive little puppy before he got anywhere close to being a fearful warrior, and he sure as hell wasn't going to even think of stopping him.**

**Max heard a snicker from the corner of kids and turned to see Miss Irena's daughter watching him, fully enjoying the show. **

"**Now, seeing as you're new to this, I'm going to go a little easier on you than the others at first. But don't you get used to it boy, because the moment you fall into comfort I'll push you so hard during training you can't get out of bed for two weeks. Understood?" **

"**Yes, Master Logan." Max murmured, hoping the title and obedience would sway the man into at least some partial amount of kindness. **

"**Get to it boy, I'm done with you!" Not specifying in the slightest what Max was expected to do. He just walked over to Yuri and the girl, hoping they could tell him. As he reached them, Yuri patted him on the back.**

"**It seems the new kid has tamed the wild beast." He grinned and put a long wooden pole the height of Logan's legs in Max's hand. **

"_**That**_** was tame? You're kidding me, right?" Max felt the weight of the pole in his hand, slowly turning it to get the sense of movement in his mind. He figured this was used for training, but why he was handed it he didn't know. Didn't they train with swords? **

**Apparently not, well at least not at first, Yuri had explained to Max that beginning training with a weapon that did not leave marks when hit was more effective and motivational than a proper weapon used in combat. It also served as a reminder that they were not experienced enough to go off on their own and fight beyond the trees.**

"**Ha! You just wait until later, and then you'll see."**

**Yuri was right, Max did see. See Master Logan almost rip apart a boy on the opposite side of the room, that is, and merely because his fighting stance wasn't perfect. The guy was furious, genuinely furious that the boy had been standing in a training battle at an angle that wasn't what Logan wanted, even though the boy had been so successful in fighting against his opponent that he'd won the last three spars. **

**Unlike the boy, Max had made a bucket full of mistakes that led him to being pinned in a body lock on the floor, courtesy of Miss Irena's daughter. The first of many epic fails in training that day. **

**Max figured she either really liked to fight or she just enjoyed his pain following an ass-whooping. **

**It felt like it would never end. **

**He'd learned many things though, like stances and defensive moves he hadn't ever seen his siblings use in battle or training. Max particularly liked the counter strike move the other kids had names the 'half-back' move, but it could only be used if your opponent chose to step into a forward thrust with their weapon aimed high. It also worked in hand-to-hand combat when attacked with a direct punch to the face. **

**The half-back was where, after your opponent made their attack, you flipped back onto your hands into an upside down crouch and then extend your legs upwards into a handstand by the time your opponent was directly above following their thrust, resulting in a kick in the face. It was definitely Max's favourite so far. **

**His good mood by the end of training, apart from the constant butt-kicking, was slightly dampened when three kids made their way across the hall on the way to the exit. Max later learned that the leader of the trio's name was Ulric and Max didn't even care for the names of the two beefy kids that followed him around like lapdogs. They all wore black, which was very different from everyone else's majority of desert colours, and walked around with an air of smug confidence, taking care to push Max over on the floor on their way past him. This wasn't taken lightly by Miss Irena's daughter who crouched defensively in front of Max, still on the floor, and growled at Ulric which startled the bully so much he dropped all eye contact and quickly turned away. **

"**Nobody gets to drop the new guy on his ass but me, got it Twinkle?" She had shouted at his retreating form, but Max could still see the slight tense in his body at her words. Max had almost started to feel good about her protecting him until he realised what she had said, followed by a backwards glance and glare from Ulric that told Max the push was only the beginning. **

_**Guess it would have been too good to be true if I got along with everyone,**_**was Max's only thought on the matter. **

* * *

He didn't really focus too much on Ulric and his followers for the remainder that day, instead he was far too interested in making Miss Irena's daughter stop retelling the stories from their sparring matches to everyone they passed on the street on the way to the market after Miss Irena had picked them up outside the training hall.

Her daughter also made it known it was required of the kids to go to training three times a week, though turning up on extra days meant extra praise from the other Masters. Max didn't find this all that bad as some of the kids in the village actually acted kindly towards him.

That, and he really wanted to train often. He wanted to be a great warrior like Jace.

Jayden was the first acquaintance of Max's that day. He was a sandy-coloured, spiky haired burst of energy that never ceased; throughout the training when Max would look around to see what others were doing, he would almost always see Jayden running after his opponent, who's name Max had found to be Edmund though he'd never talked to the boy, in an act of chase or flying around the room in a series of flips. Jayden's clothes didn't seem to be anymore than a pair of shorts and leather canvas shoes, the colour never being too far from the shade of his hair. He had greeted Max with a great hug, when introduced by Yuri, before spotting Edmund again and proceeding to chase after him whilst waving his wooden sword above his head like a mad man. For some reason Master Logan never told him off for his behaviour.

Reighna was the another kid that stood out of the friendly group. She seemed quite reserved at first and had given him a timid smile and offered her hand for slight handshake. But after they were told to spar a little so she could teach him how to wield the pole with refinement, she warmed up to him and began joking with him a little, even when she had hit him on the back of the head with little restraint. Her moves were well practised and showed an elegance in fighting he hadn't witnessed before. Her swift, flowing movements never seemed to be hindered by her long, violet dress, ever complimenting her light golden hair in a classic Swiss braid.

By the time Max had finished reminiscing about his first day of training and the people he'd met, he, Miss Irena and her daughter had arrived at the market. He'd given up on trying to quiet the stories of his butt-whooping and just let the girl run around telling anyone that would stop to listen. This attracted far too much attention for his liking, though there was nought he could do about it, and when the girl pointed out his presence to them he usually found himself in awkward eye contact with them whilst they silently scrutinised him with their gazes.

It wasn't even as if they were subtle about it either.

He wanted to do what Jace did, just shrug off their looks and make a witty comment. But sometimes that got Jace in trouble, and Max didn't want to people to dislike his presence in the village anymore than some of them did, he could see it in the way they looked at him.

He decided to go with Alec's approach to new people, because everyone liked Alec.

So he tentatively smiled at them and hid behind Miss Irena a little, trying to escape their gaze as much as possible. He wasn't just doing it just to copy Alec, that was his first reaction whenever the people turned to look at him, it's just that he didn't want to seem any more pathetic than he felt in this strange place by shying away so easily.

They took a good couple of hours to walk around the whole market, so it was already past midday when they got back to the house. It wasn't as if it was a big market, they just had to stop every five seconds to either explain the use of an item or to introduce him to more people he would never remember the names of. There had been one stall that had stuck in his memory though, apart from the food stall with loads of plants and fruits that looked pretty tasty, it had so many gadgets and devices that Max couldn't help but ask about every single item he laid his eyes on. Eventually Miss Irena's daughter had to pull him away from the stall and made the man who looked after it laugh so heartily Max couldn't help put grin. The man said he could come back the next day so they could continue, and Max couldn't quite help but feel anxious and impatient as the day dragged on.

* * *

I cannot apologise enough for the delay in my updates :( please forgive me?

First there was my loss of notes that i had to replace with new ones, then my coursework deadlines that took up all my time. So i've chosen to take a wee break from my revision to write more on this and update.

If anyone wants the a chapter on the talk with the stall guy on the gadget and stuff, just ask :) but if not the next chapter will probably take place a couple of weeks later in the storyline, i have to get Max all grown up somehow. I'll introduce a couple more characters and get you some history on Terna and probably add a couple of angels in the mix while i'm at it, yeah?

Oh, and i do not own TMI. Just saying.


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